


Coming For A Visit

by SillyLioness



Category: The Pacific (TV)
Genre: Homophobic Language, M/M, Mentions of PTSD, Post-Canon, but it's like one word
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2015-12-15
Packaged: 2018-05-06 23:16:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5434493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SillyLioness/pseuds/SillyLioness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leckie's fascinated by Hoosier's hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming For A Visit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gilove2dance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilove2dance/gifts).



> Merry Christmas!

Not long after exchanging their first letters, Leckie visited Hoosier for the first time. It was a weird and slightly overwhelming situation to see a man he has only ever seen in war in his own small house, walking around the kitchen, preparing coffee and a meal. Leckie couldn't help but stare. The way Hoosier's hands, about a year ago still cleaning a rifle on a daily basis, opened the kitchen cabinets, moved around, held cups and plates. Another thing Leckie noticed is the missing tension in Hoosier's shoulders. He was not fully relaxed, but compared to their time in the Pacific he seemed downright calm and content.  
It was awkward at first, silence filling the space between them. It felt like there were worlds between them, but during the breakfast after the first night Leckie spent with Hoosier they began talking. Quietly at first, about what was going on in their lives, later far more enthusiastic, sharing jokes and laughs. And for the first time in a while Leckie actually felt like he belongs. Talking about his parents and his breakup with Vera to Hoosier made the burden seem lighter and eased the weight on his shoulders. And again Leckie couldn't help staring at Hoosier's hands, how they turned the coffee cup, how they fidgeted with the knife and how they played with the table cloth that was draped loosely over the kitchen table.

“So, how are things going for you?” Leckie asked after he decided he did enough talking.  
“Good. Things are going good. Got work at a repair shop in town.” Hoosier looked at him, nodding slightly to stress that he was fine. But Leckie didn't miss the dark shadows under Hoosier's eyes. He also didn't miss the sound of someone tossing and turning in bed at night – the guestroom was just next to the bedroom Hoosier slept in.  
“How's sleeping? I have trouble sometimes,” Leckie said. On one hand to show Hoosier that there was nothing wrong with talking about it, on the other hand just to talk about it, because he too had to get it off of his chest.  
“Yeah...” Hoosier answers lamely before he continues, “got some trouble falling asleep. Is not that bad though, stops when someone's with me.” His face showed, painfully obvious, that he felt like he had said too much. But Leckie just nodded and looked on Hoosier's hands again. It was a little poetic to imagine that someone whose job it had been to destroy and kill now fixed things for a living. It made Leckie smile softly.  
“It's alright. I get what you mean. Sometimes it's good not to be alone, I guess.”  
“Yeah, right. It's nice that you say that.”

That was the end of their little discussion and they went back to joking and telling anecdotes that made both of them laugh. They did the dishes in comfortable silence. Leckie was glad he could do the washing, because that meant he couldn't let anything fall down while staring at Hoosier's hands. A few times their eyes crossed and which caused both to look away quickly. Leckie felt a strange tension inside of him when he stared at Hoosier's hands. He'd been feeling it for a while now, at least since Camp Gloucester. It felt the same as it had felt with Stella and Vera and it worried him, though it also made him feel warm and pleased. He knew he had a thing for men and women alike, so this wasn't what was worrying him. It was the fact that it was Hoosier, someone where it would actually hurt to be turned down – though losing Hoosier over something like this might even be worse than simply to be rejected.

They spent the day walking around town, eating burgers at a diner and just being lazy in general. It was nice, happy, and almost domestic. They had bread for dinner, which they ate in silence with the radio playing soft tunes. It was still quite early in the evening when Hoosier excused himself and went to bed. Leckie assumed he had to catch up on the sleep from last night. He on the other hand didn't feel like sleeping at all so he stayed up and hummed along to the radio.

So he sat awake for hours, just listening to the radio and writing in his notebook. Leckie enjoyed the silence, but as soon as he had thought about that, said silence was disturbed by the creaking of the stairs followed by the tapping of naked feet on cold tiles. The confusion was obvious in Hoosier's face when he entered the kitchen.

“Oh...I didn't think you were still awake,” he said lamely and filled a glass with water. Leckie's gaze flickered up to Hoosier's face before it was fixed on his hands. They shook when they held the glass and raised it to his mouth. Hoosier's lips were pressed together to a tight line and his eyes seemed distant and haunted.

“I could come to bed with you, if it's easier for you to sleep when someone's present,” Leckie offered, choosing his words slowly in an attempt to show that he was not trying to be a fag or something, just a friend who did something for his friend.

“I – uh, you know what, I guess I could give it a try...” Hoosier set his glass aside and looked at Leckie, expecting him to follow him upstairs. Leckie gave a brief nod and got up.

Hoosier's bedroom was spartan, only the messy blanket showed that someone lived and slept here and apparently had quite some nightmares. Lifting the blanket up, so he could crawl under it, Hoosier laid down and gave Leckie the same look as in the kitchen. Leckie just followed suit and laid down next to Hoosier, cautious not to get too close. He didn't need to feed his phantasies about Hoosier any more.

It was during the night when Hoosier woke up with a violent shiver that he got closer to Leckie and gripped his hand like a drowning man. It was downright weird to be so close to Hoosier, but it wasn't necessarily bad. Leckie decided to play along, there was no use in telling Hoosier to fuck off. It would be cruel in Leckie's eyes. Hoosier was obviously not trying to hold hands in a romantic fashion – even though that wouldn't have bothered Leckie either.

“It's alright, I'm here,” Leckie whispered in an attempt to calm Hoosier and make him feel a little safer. He felt Hoosier nod against his chest through his shirt and he couldn't help but look at their hands. The way their fingers were intertwined looked almost beautiful.

“Look, I won't go away, okay? I'll stay as long as you need me to,” Leckie mumbled into Hoosier's hair and squeezed his calloused hand gently. Again Hoosier nodded and squeezed back.

“Thanks. It's nice of you to do that, you know?”


End file.
